Device for making-ready the unwinding operation of cops

ABSTRACT

A device for making ready for the unwinding process of cops of the type wherein the cops are guided by conveyor means on a path along the contact line of two counter-rotating cylinders arranged parallel to each other so that the beginning of the thread of the cop is exposed and pulled off by means of the cylinders. A transport plate which is movable transversely to the travel direction of the cops, is equipped with several teeth, is arranged underneath of the support for the cop tube bases. The toothed transport picks up threads individually and makes them a desired length and feeds them to a scissors which individually cuts them to the same length. The threads are then picked up by a suction device in position for further processing.

ited States Kiipper Dec. 2, 1975 1 1 DEVICE FOR MAKlNG-READY THE UNWINDING OPERATION OF COPS Willi Kiipper, Rickelrath, Germany W. Schlafhorst & C0. Maschinenfabrik, Rickelrath, Germany Filed: Nov. 12, 1973 Appl No.: 414,709

Inventor:

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 14, 1972 Germany 2255645 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Kupper 242/356 E Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or FirmHerbert L. Lerner [57] ABSTRACT A device for making ready for the unwinding process of cops of the type wherein the cops are guided by conveyor means on a path along the contact line of two counter-rotating cylinders arranged parallel to each other so that the beginning of the thread of the cop is exposed and pulled off by means of the cylinders. A transport plate which is movable transversely to the travel direction of the cops, is equipped with several teeth, is arranged underneath of the support for the cop tube bases. The toothed transport picks up threads individually and makes them a desired length and feeds them to a scissors which individually cuts them to the same length. The threads are then picked up by a suction device in position for further processmg.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 3,923,264

DEVICE FOR MAKING-READY THE UNWINDING OPERATION OF COPS This invention relates to means for securing the ends of threads of partially filled cops of yarn mounted on spindles. 1

More particularly, the invention relates to means for making cops ready for the unwinding process, in devices of the type wherein cops are guided by conveyor means on a path. along the contact line of two counterrotating cylinders arranged parallel to each other, whereby the beginning of the thread of the cop is exposed and pulled off by the cylinders. Such devices serve for finding the beginning of the thread lying in an outer or inner layer or on the circumference of the cop, to expose it and to hold the free end of the thread ready for further processing operations. It is then possible for the thread grippers of a processing machine, for instance, an automatic winding machine, to grab the exposed end of the thread, so that the unwinding process for the cop can be initiated.

It is known to separate the beginning of the thread of a cop by means of mechanical strippers, to use suction or air blast steams or to employ mechanical and pneumatic means with mutually aiding action. In one device of this kind, the thread end, is exposed by means of an air blast on the cops, which are transported in vertically arranged cradles. The threads are seized by counterrotating cylinders and are continuously pulled off with amplified pulling force while the cops are led along the contact line of these cylinders. The section of thread exposed in this manner can then further be seized by a thread gripper which reaches into the empty space above the support of the tube base. The thread then can be lifted off the surface of the cop in the direction of its transport path, whereby friction of the section of the thread to be pulled off at the yarn layers is avoided.-

The device described above, however, fulfills its purpose only if full cops are being prepared, in which the exposed section of thread reaches at least from the tip of the cop to the tube base and is long enough to be held reliably by the elements for gripping the beginning of the thread, which are arranged on the route of the further processing. In other cops, particularly if partly empty cops are worked on, which are of considerable importance in the case of expensive worsted yarns, the exposed thread end is in general several times shorter than in full cops, so that this short thread end is no longer reliably gripped by the succeeding holding elements, for instance, those of an automatic winding machine, and failures occur.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate this disadvantage and to create a device for making the cops ready for the unwinding process, which processes full cops as well as partially empty cops with equal reliabilit).

According to the invention, this problem is solved by a toothed transport plate mounted underneath the support for the cop tube bases, which is movable transversely to the travel direction of the cop and is equipped with several teeth.

According to a further advantageous feature of the invention, the support for the tube bases is provided in the region of the teeth of the transport plate with an aperture having a corresponding number of tooth gaps.

By means of the transport plate it is possible to extend the normally shorter thread end of a partially empty cop, to a greater length sufficient for further processing. For this purpose, the thread end is brought to a waiting position during the further travel of the cop. The number of teeth of the transport plate and the equal number of tooth gaps in the support for the tube bases determines that number of cops, whose thread ends can initially be held fast and can be brought to the required length during the passage of this predeterminable number of cops past the transport plate.

If, in accordance with a further feature of the invention, the transport plate is coupled with a threadsevering device, that thread end can always be severed which has spent the longest time in the waiting position and has therefore reached the greatest length.

The transport plate and the thread-severing device are coupled to a solenoid which is actuated by the cops travelling past the transport means by means of a photo cell. This determines the timing sequence for bringing the thread ends into the waiting position and the severing of the threads.

After passing through the transport distance, the severed thread ends of the cops can be gripped for further processing by a thread storage device connected to a stream of suction air and located adjacent to the thread-severing device.

Other features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a particular embodiment, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the device for preparing the unwinding process of partially empty cops on a conveyor belt.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, partially in cross section.

FIG. 3 is a top view along the cross section line III- III of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 1 shows a conveyor belt 1, to which cradles 2 are attached which serve to receive the cops 3 and which the embodiment shown, are charged with partly empty cops of different yarn content. The conveyor belt 1 is driven in the direction of the arrow 4 and transports the cops 3 to a station for further processing, not shown, for instance, an automatic winding machine.

The cops 3 are wound on tubes 5, and slide with their tube base 5' over the support 6, which is arranged along the contact line 7 of two counter-rotating cylinders 8. The counter-rotation of the cylinders 8 is indicated in FIG. 2 by the arrows 9. As also shown in FIG. 1, the thread ends 10, which have been separated already from the cops 3 in a manner known per se by mechanical or pneumatic means, are seized by the cylinders 8 and are pulled off further during the transport. The cops 3' have already passed the transport plate 11, which as shown in FIG. 4 is made with four teeth 12, and the thread ends 10' of these cops are in the tooth gaps 13 of the support 6, in the waiting position of plate 11.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a cop 3 with its thread end which goes from the first tooth gap 13 in the support 6 via the first tooth 12 of the transport plate 11 to the cylinders 8. To the side of the cop 3 will be seen a thread storage device 14, also shown in FIG. 3, which is acted upon by a stream of suction air. Into this thread storage device 14 is sucked and held the thread end 10 of a cop 3. This thread has reached the length required for further processing and will be cut off above the cylinders 8 by a thread-severing device which will be described.

The actuation of the transport plate 11 is shown in FIG. 3. The transport plate 11 is arranged movably underneath the support 6, as already mentioned. With the solenoid 16 energized, the teeth 12 of the transport plate 11 are situated coincident under the toothgaps 13 of the stationary support 6. The transport plate 11, which is mounted on support 6 by the pivoted hinge straps 17, executes an oscillating lifting motion with each operation of the solenoid 16, whereby the teeth 12 are shifted by one tooth pitch downwardly in FIG. 3.

This movement has just been completed in the illustration shown in FIG. 3. All the thread ends 10 situated in the individual tooth gaps 13 have been advanced by one tooth pitch by this movement. The solenoid 16 is operated by each tube base 5, for instance, via a photoelectric cell, having transmitting and receiving elements 18 and 19. As soon as one of the tube bases 5 has passed the photocell, the armature 25 of the solenoid l6 springs back up in FIG. 3 under the action of a compression spring 21 into its starting position, the transport plate 11 being shifted this time by one tooth pitch in the direction of the arrow by the lever 22. The thread ends 10' situated in the tooth gaps 13 of support member 6 are not interfered with by the backs of the teeth 12 during this up motion of the transport plate 11 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 shows the transport plate 11 after the completion of this return motion, i.e., when the starting position is reached. In this position, a new thread end 10' can be accepted from the cops which now passes into the first tooth gap 13 of member 6, upper most in FIG. 4 and the tooth 12 of plate 11 which corresponds to this tooth gap. Simultaneously with the return movement of the transport plate 11 in the direction of the arrow 20, the thread-severing device 15, which consists of the two scissor halves 23 and 24 connected to plate 6 with a fixed pin 27, is actuated. Scissor half 24 is fixed to pin 27 while scissor half 23 is pivotally mounted on pin 27. Lever 26 is fixed to scissor half 23 and pivotally connected to plate 11 with a pin and slot connection 15. The thread end situated in the last tooth gap 13 is cut by the thread-severing device 15. The thread end situated in the last tooth gap 13 has then reached the desired length required for the further processing. The number of the teeth and tooth gaps can, of course, also be decreased or increased and thus, the length of the thread end can be adapted to the particular conditions.

I claim:

1. Device for making-ready the unwinding process of cops comprising a pair of counter-rotating cylinders disposed parallel to one another along a common contact line, conveyor means for moving a series of substantially vertically disposed cops having respective previously loosened thread ends on a path parallel to said cylinders and along said contact line thereof so that the thread ends are seizable by said cylinders at said common contact line thereof and withdrawable from the cops as the latter are moved along said path by said conveyor means, a transport plate located adjacent said conveyor means and having a plurality of teeth disposed in a plane transverse to the path of movement of the cops, and means for moving said transport plate and said plurality of teeth thereof in a direction transverse to the path of movement of the cops in synchronism with said movement of the cops by said conveyor means for picking up successive thread ends of the series of cops and moving them in a step by step manner transversely to the path of movement of the cops.

2. Device according to claim 1, including a support for the cops located below said conveyor means and extending parallel to said transport plate, said support having in the region of the teeth of the transport plate a corresponding number of tooth gaps.

3. Device according to claim 1, wherein said transport plate is coupled to a thread-severing device, by a pin and slot connection whereby the threads are individually severed.

4. Device according to claim 3, having a solenoid which is actuable by cops moved past by said conveyer means, said transport plate and said thread-severing device being connected to said solenoid.

5. Device according to claim 4, having a thread storage suction device, said thread storage suction device being located operatively adjacent to said thread severing device, said suction device being adapted to hold the thread ends extending from the cops. 

1. Device for making-ready the unwinding process of cops comprising a pair of counter-rotating cylinders disposed parallel to one another along a common contact line, conveyor means for moving a series of substantially vertically disposed cops having respective previously loosened thread ends on a path parallel to said cylinders and along said contact line thereof so that the thread ends are seizable by said cylinders at said common contact line thereof and withdrawable from the cops as the latter are moved along said path by said conveyor means, a transport plate located adjacent said conveyor means and having a plurality of teeth disposed in a plane transverse to the path of movement of the cops, and means for moving said transport plate and said plurality of teeth thereof in a direction transverse to the path of movement of the cops in Synchronism with said movement of the cops by said conveyor means for picking up successive thread ends of the series of cops and moving them in a step by step manner transversely to the path of movement of the cops.
 2. Device according to claim 1, including a support for the cops located below said conveyor means and extending parallel to said transport plate, said support having in the region of the teeth of the transport plate a corresponding number of tooth gaps.
 3. Device according to claim 1, wherein said transport plate is coupled to a thread-severing device, by a pin and slot connection whereby the threads are individually severed.
 4. Device according to claim 3, having a solenoid which is actuable by cops moved past by said conveyer means, said transport plate and said thread-severing device being connected to said solenoid.
 5. Device according to claim 4, having a thread storage suction device, said thread storage suction device being located operatively adjacent to said thread severing device, said suction device being adapted to hold the thread ends extending from the cops. 